Report Claims iWatch Will Appear in October 2014; Hints at Wireless Charging

Unlike some people, Apple's apparently trying to make sure its long-rumored smartwatch is as ready as possible before it unleashes it upon the public. Thanks to Chinese site C Technology (via MacRumors), we now have another rough release date for the so-called iWatch, and it's expected to drop sometimes in October of next year. But that could all just be hot air; after all, just last month Digitimes said we'd see the device sometime in Q2 of next year.

According to the report, Apple has already tested two prototypes. Nestled in the report is another surprising claim--that you'll be able to charge the iWatch wirelessly as long as the power source is around one meter away. That much remains a mystery, however, and it appears that Apple's still trying to figure out how large they want the device to be. After all, the article speaks of 100 mAh batteries, significantly less powerful than the 315 mAh battery that's won the competing Samsung Galaxy Gear nothing but criticism for short battery life.

Not surprisingly, then, Apple seems deeply concerned with battery life in the development process. As MacRumors notes, the prototypes mentioned above apparently could hold a charge for only one or two days, and Apple wants to bump that time up to four to five days. The sudden news about wireless charging could entail a way to work around those limitations.

The site also notes correctly that C Technology's reliability for rumors is spotty at best. Many of the leaked photos we shared showing the iPhone 5s and 5c from the site turned out to be accurate, while some of its photos of gold iPads with touch ID turned out to be pure fiction.